A Stone for Sarah

Last week, after a wait of 153 years, a headstone was finally placed at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis to mark the final resting place of Klinck family matriarch Sarah!

Sarah Henderson Irby was born to William C. Irby and Henrietta Ritter Henderson in 1802 in Laurens, South Carolina. In 1821, at the age of 19, she married John Graham Klinck. Before she had children of her own, Sarah lost both of her parents; her mother in 1825 and her father only three years later in 1828.

Between 1832 and 1844, Sarah and John had 5 living children (likely all born in Laurens): Caroline Hamilton Klinck (Michael W. Kinney), Hayne Irby Klinck, Mary Elizabeth Klinck (George W. Grader), DeWitt Clinton Klinck, and James Monroe Klinck.

While these facts tell one view of Sarah's life, her eloquent (and, for the time, uncommonly long) obituary paints a picture of her personality and character:

Obituary found glued into the front of Sarah's bible.

The stunning portrait below shows John and Sarah Klinck doing one thing that is not frequently seen in photographs from the mid-19th century - they're holding hands! This digitally restored image was taken from an ambrotype that is only about two inches in height.

John Graham Klinck and Sarah Irby Klinck